Caught Beneath The Landslide
by KaceyO
Summary: Victoire Weasley could charm her way in and out of anything, except where the arrogant Teddy Lupin was concerned. Her family had been pushing the two together since she was born and with him soon graduating she was happy to be rid of him...right?
1. Introduction

_I'm baaaaaack! This story has been in my head for a while and I am really excited to take on a new pairing and also have my first full story written in first person! It will mostly be Victoire's POV but we'll get a glimpse of Teddy every now and then :) This introduction is short and a bit of a teaser but I hope you guys enjoy it and please review and let me know your thoughts!_

**Introduction**

My mother has taught me a lot of things in my sixteen and a half years of life, but the one thing she stresses the most was that a girl should "always, always, _always_" look put together. A perk of being part Veela was that I rarely look like a mess, but my mother doesn't let it stop there. I have a wardrobe full of clothes with French labels on them and drawers of accessories to "put some style en zous 'ideous 'Ogwarts robes" (again, her words, not mine). Today, however, I would not be wearing my school robes, but a nice dress. Grandmum Weasley got it in her head that we needed a family portrait of everyone in the _entire _family. Besides my two grandparents and four immediate family members, I have five uncles, four aunts and nine cousins. When you include me, that makes twenty four immediate family members! But then you have to include stupid Teddy Lupin, making it twenty-five.

I don't hate Teddy for not being blood related (though he has been at every damn family function I have ever been at). I suppose I feel bad for him in some way, I mean he has no parents and has to live with his Gran, who is extremely strict. But then again, he spends most of the time with the Potter family and I don't think there are parents cooler than my Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. Uncle Harry saved the Wizarding world, Aunt Ginny was a really talented Quidditch player and they have the funniest kids on the planet. Harry is Teddy's godfather and spoils the kid rotten, too much if you ask me. The last thing Teddy Lupin needs is spoiling, what he really needs a good kick in the arse which I intend on giving him one day when my mum isn't looking.

Teddy is a year ahead of me in school and we were always forced to play together at family gatherings. We had about a hundred pictures of the two of us and we got on pretty well until I realized he was the biggest prat on the face of the earth. He used to love playing little jokes and pranks on the adults and I would always do it with him….until he pulled one on me.

_FLASHBACK_

"Come on Vic, it's just a little mud!" Nine year old Teddy stood about five feet from me, his left hand full of mud and a devilish expression on his face. "You've got loads of other dresses!"

"Absolutely not, Teddy Lupin!" I said hotly. I looked down at my cream dress with a bright blue sash tied around the waist that perfectly matched the bow tied in my hair. I was itching to run away but my black loafers stayed grounded to the spot. "Don't you dare throw that at me!"

"I'll make you a deal Vic, you give me a kiss and I won't do it." He raised his right eyebrow at me and smirked. I gave him a glare but, to save my dress, I marched up to him.

"You're terrible." I said before bringing my lips to his for the briefest of kisses. I reckon Teddy was so surprised that I actually did it, because he then proceeded to drop his fistful of mud. Which, unfortunately for him, landed right on my dress.

_END FLASHBACK_

Whether he meant to do it or not did not stop me from throwing a very Weasley-worthy tantrum and from that day we have had a relationship comprised purely of bickering, insults and general hate.

It still, however, does not keep our family from pushing us together. We still have to get pictures of _just the two of us_. You can see the growing irritation on our faces in the moving pictures growing as the years pass. Our most recent one was from last summer where I am scowling at Teddy while he changes his facial features into contorted shapes, something he _knows_ I absolutely loathe. Even thinking about him made me scowl, something that was unfortunately on my face when my mum walked in my room.

"Victoire Weasley, zat iz not ze kind of expression I want to see!" My mother scolded me while handing me my freshly pressed dress. It was decided by my Grandmum that each family would wear a different color while she and Granddad wore white. Uncle Charlie got orange, Uncle Percy's family got yellow, Uncle George's got blue, Uncle Ron's got maroon and the Potters and Teddy got green. My family got brown. The color of poo. Splendid.

"Je m'excuse, Mama." I said, taking the dress. I use French on my mother to weasel my way out of most anything. She smiled and pressed a kiss to my forehead before checking on my siblings. Dominique was in her fourth year at Hogwarts and we shared bright blue eyes but unlike my blonde hair that cascaded in soft, silky curls down my back, her hair was light red and straighter just like my father's. She had more freckles that I did but was still beautiful. My brother Louis was in his third year and pretty quiet compared to my sister and I. He also had red hair but the silkiness of it was more like mine.

I held up the dress, studying it, and decided it wasn't really half bad. Being two days after Christmas, the weather in England was freezing, but the wool dress looked like it would keep me warm. It was long sleeved and had a sweetheart neckline and the hem came down to just past my knee. After putting it on, I paired it with the new silver jewelry I had received for Christmas and loosely tied my hair in a side ponytail with a chocolate bow that perfectly matched the dress. I had three fashion obsessions; high heeled shoes, black mascara and, over anything else, bows.

Once we arrived at the place the portrait was to be taken (who knew there was a wizarding photographer in Diagon Alley?) and spent a bloody HOUR trying to coordinate the family into looking somewhat decent, I heard the dreaded sentence come from my mother's mouth.

"We must get ze picture of Victoire and Teddy!" I rolled my eyes but, knowing there was no good in fighting it, trudged over to her. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Aunt Ginny pushing Teddy, who wore a green button down shirt and khaki pants, over to me. "Stand close!" My mother ordered and Teddy and I stood and inch apart from each other while the photographer decided on which light would be best.

"Nice bow _Vicky_." Teddy said out of the corner of his mouth. He knew I hated that nickname.

"Whatever, _Theodore_." The ends of his hair began turning red, meaning that (I knew from years of making them that way) he was getting frustrated.

"That's not even my real name." He growled, trying to keep his voice contained.

"And yet it succeeds in pissing you off each and every time." I sing-songed, still keeping the perfect smile on my face. "Just think Teddy-bear, after this term you can do us all a favor and graduate and disappear."

"You better bet your big arse I'm counting down the days." He replied. I knew my arse was not big at all yet I _so_ wanted to smack him for saying that. The photographer started counting down from ten to take the picture. Ten? He couldn't have started with three?

"Here's to the last time I'm ever this close to you then." I muttered. I heard the low chuckle from Teddy next to me.

"Amen to that." He said as the picture snapped.


	2. Valentine's Day

_Thank you guys so much for the positive reviews! You will find out more about the characters, their history and such as the story goes on, but to answer a lot of your questions: Teddy and Vic go at eachother because, well frankly, they can. It's fun for them to get under eachother's skin and since they've known eachother so long they know exactly which buttons to push!_

**Valentine's Day**

Valentine's Day at Hogwarts was always interesting for me. Things almost always remained the same, like Peeves drawing inappropriate parts on the decorative cherubs, or Professor McGonagall wearing her red witch hat. You could always count on those little things. You could also always count on Daniella Magnolie's jealous rage.

There were five Gryffindor girls in my year, including myself. My closest mate is Shannon Shears. Shannon is really smart, but she's also daring in the face of danger which made her career choice of becoming an Auror fit her perfectly. Shannon is one of the few girls outside of my family that I felt like I could actually trust and I was grateful to have her.

Then there is Alyssa Canta whose aunt was actually Head Girl when my father was Head Boy at Hogwarts. Small world? Yeah, welcome to the wizarding world in Britain. _Everyone_ is connected. Alyssa has been dating Shawn Meadows, a Hufflepuff in our year, since fourth year and is also prefect so she was never really around.

Dee Listlee is the shortest of all of us with mousey brown hair to match her mousey personality. She's the biggest gossip in the tower—once she finds something out, everyone finds it out. She calls people out on their personal matters on a weekly basis, but Merlin forbid anyone ask her something about her life. Come to think of it, she barely has a life of her own, she's so wrapped up in other people's lives while trying to be the next Daniella.

Ugh. Daniella Magnolie. We got on well right until Valentine's Day of our third year when I was sent multiple bouquets of flowers and she was sent a measly carnation from a nerdy second year Ravenclaw. She went mental, calling me a show off and swore that the only reason I got so many flowers was because I was a tramp who used my 'average' looks to get ahead.

She really should have known better than to mess with a Weasley.

I got a weeks worth detention, but the image of the thorns from all of my roses speeding towards her like the Knight Bus was enough to get me through it. Since then, we have practically loathed each other and each Valentine's Day is a little tougher for her and a little sweeter for me.

"You got so many this year!" Shannon jumped on my bed and motioned to the bouquets of flowers that surrounded my bed (the house elves delivered them in the night). "Oh, come on Vic, let's read them!" She plucked a card from the nearest one. "_Dearest Victoire,_ _this bouquet of roses is almost a beautiful as you. Will you accompany me to Hogsmeade? Fondly, Miles Guard, Hufflepuff, Fourth Year._"

"Aw, that was sweet, in a way!" I laughed, taking the card and putting it on the desk. I scanned the flowers, there were seven bouquets of red roses, one bunch of daisies and one of lillies. I smiled as I put the vases on top of my dresser and tried to nicely arrange them while still being able to access my makeup.

"Honestly Victoire, what if I had a flower allergy?" Daniella asked, not even trying to cover up the nasty tone of her voice.

"It's a good thing you don't." I simply replied and she scoffed before motioning to Dee to leave the room. I rolled my eyes and dug in my first drawer for the perfect bow to celebrate the holiday. I found a pale pink one and, paired with my pink flats and pink lipstick, I knew it would give my uniform a bit of spirit. I usually didn't wear pink, as it clashed with the scarlet and gold lining on my uniform and crest on my robes, but today was a special day so I made the exception.

"Do you ever get tired of always looking perfect?" Shannon asked, throwing her hair in a messy bun while I neatly pinned mine halfway off my face. I stuck my tongue out at her, something I had picked up from little Lily Potter that my mother highly disapproved of.

"Come on, let's just head down to breakfast." I said and the two of us grabbed our books and headed down the dormitory staircase.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Victoire!" Lyle Nelnick, the chaser for the house team called out from across the common room. I flashed him a smile and thanked him and continued down to the Great Hall.

"How many flowers did you get this year?" Julianne Lockhart asked when Shannon and I sat down. Julianne was niece to the extremely handsome Gilderoy Lockhart and she had inherited his winning smile. She was a seventh year and had quite a reputation, but her sweet personality made sure no one could _really_ hate her.

"Nine bouquets," Shannon answered for me. "It's nauseatingly cute." I laughed it off, just like I always did with Shannon. I didn't want people to think I was stuck up or a snob, but I also didn't want people to think I had self-issues. I was a sixteen year old girl, of course I had self issues, but I wasn't about to let anyone in Hogwarts know about them.

"Beat me again, I only got six this year." Julianne said as she buttered her toast.

"It's cause the boys you leave broken-hearted outnumber the boys you still haven't got to yet." I joked and Julianne laughed good-naturally.

"Hey, at least I give them a decent chance! S'not my fault if they mess it up. Or if I move on. There's no use getting tied down at this young age, you know." She said wisely, biting into her toast. She did have a point there and it's not like any of the guys at Hogwarts were really worth being tied down to. We finished our breakfast and when I stood up, I noticed that Teddy hadn't been sitting with his friends (how they stood him I would never know). Against my own will, I looked around but found him nowhere. Shrugging, I picked up my books, fastened my cloak and headed down to the Herbology greenhouses.

There were only six students in my year that chose to continue with Herbology for the N.E.W.T. level. Samantha Stiles and Kiely Nickel were both Ravenclaws and inseparable, Jackson Cook was a funny Hufflepuff and chaser for their team, Tamara Kendall was another Hufflepuff who had glasses nearly as big as her face and Reid Vipere, a Slytherin who (if you can believe it) was actually one of my close friends. Reid and I loved the subject of Herbology more than anyone else in our year, and the fascination with it had led to our formed friendship this year. He was a typical Slytherin in the sense that he was cunning and kind of a git, but he was also fun to talk to and we enjoyed easy conversation.

"Anyone send you anything good this year?" Reid asked as I sat down on the stool next to him. I rolled my eyes and swung my knapsack onto the table.

"Roses, daisies and lilies. Nice, but not-"

"A bouquet of white peonies?" Reid asked, this time rolling _his_ eyes. We had a two week unit on flowers in the fall and I fell in love with the white peonies. They were simple, but also unique and romantic.

"Alright, well what would you have wanted?"

"Blokes don't get flowers." Reid reminded. "Besides, I'm not in to flowers, remember?"

"Right, it's the dangerous and terrifying plants that interest you." I said, raising my eyebrows. Reid wanted to work with dangerous plants in either extermination or in healing after Hogwarts. I wanted to own a flower shop, though no one except Reid and Shannon knew. I know it doesn't sound brave or heroic, but it's what I want to do. The real trick is figuring out how exactly to do it. I was taking Herbology, Charms and Defense Against Dark Arts as my N.E.W.T. classes, the last two only because I like them a hell of a lot more than Potions or Transfiguration.

"Victorie?" My head snapped up in attention to Professor Longbottom. "Can you describe the pod in a Snargaluff?"

"It is green and about the size of a grapefruit." I answered and, because I knew he knew I wasn't paying attention, flashed him a smile that sealed I would gain points for my house.

"Correct, five points to Gryiffindor! Next week we will be working with Snargaluff's and they are very dangerous so I want you all to read up on them this weekend and write eight inches of parchment about safely using them." He went on into lecture but the class was ended early and Reid and I walked up from the greenhouses back to the castle.

"So did you find out when this ball is taking place?" I asked him. Reid was the prefect for Slytherin and the sixth year prefects had been discussing the possibility of having a ball before the year was over.

"You aren't even supposed to know about that," Reid said and I shrugged. Truth was, I had gotten the information out of the Ravenclaw prefect John Dennison when he and I were on a Hogsmeade date in the beginning of term. The date was nice but nothing special and he and I had only kissed a few times before deciding we were just going to be friends. Well, I guess I was the one who actually made the decision but I wasn't going to lead the poor bloke on! I may be flirty but I'm not a tease.

Or at least I don't think I am.

This would be something I'd have to discuss with Shannon later.

"…so we're thinking about having it in the beginning of April. Kind of like a reward for getting through the winter season." I snapped back to listen to what Reid was saying (what was _up_ with my daydreaming today?)

"It sounds lovely, when will the announcement be made?" _As in when can I start shopping for my gown?_

"McGonagall just has to approve it, then she'll announce it at dinner I suppose." He shrugged and pushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes. "The real question is how to smuggle adult beverages into the party. Firewhiskey, charmed champagne, elf wine"

"Aren't you a prefect?" I asked with a laugh.

"You're telling me there won't be an after party in Gryffindor Tower after the ball?" He asked sarcastically.

"I don't doubt there will be." Teddy and his other seventh year friends threw parties for _everything._ "Will the Slytherins be throwing one in the dungeons as well?"

"Of course. And we'll have much higher quality alcohol too." I didn't doubt that either. There was a lot of old wizarding money in that house. We walked for a bit more before parting to go to separate classes. As I walked down the hall to go to Charms, I heard an all-too-familiar voice behind me.

"Alright mate, I'll see you later…oh, look who it is." Against my will I turned around and saw Teddy standing there about to turn down the other corridor but stopping so he could annoy me.

"And it was almost the perfect holiday." I said. Teddy gave me an obnoxiously fake smile.

"Sorry to disappoint."

"You weren't at breakfast." I simply stated. I didn't particularly care about where he was, but it would be interesting to see if he told me.

"Didn't feel well. Full moon last night." Of course. Teddy always got sick around the full moon. Even though he wasn't a werewolf by any means, some of his father's lycanthropy still ran through his veins. I usually made a remark about it being his time of the month. "Such a shame too, I didn't get to send you the bouquet of Devil's Snare I had been longing to send. You could have gotten your admirer number to double digits."

"Pity." I said dryly. "And how did _you_ know how many bouquets of flowers I got this morning?" Teddy shrugged and started to walk backwards.

"I won't reveal my sources."

"Stalker."

"You just never know, _Vicky_" he said and with a wink, he turned on his heel and headed towards the library. Ugh. What a frustrating piece of dung that boy was.

And what was with the stupid wink?


	3. Unexpected Encounters

_I can't get over the great reviews! thank you all so much, they really make my day :) I hope you enjoy this chapter, the next one will be up soon! also just to clarify, Teddy is a 7th year and Vic is a 6th_

**Unexpected Encounters**

"Do you think it's a little crazy that we're in the sixth year?" Shannon asked me as we ate our breakfast Friday morning. I popped a piece of toast in my mouth and mulled over the thought .

"I suppose." I said. "Sometimes I feel like we've been here forever and I can't wait to be a seventh year and be the top of the school. And then sometimes I feel like we just got here. Remember when we first met?" Shannon giggled.

"Of course! That boat ride across the lake was hysterical, Krista Mars was so terrified! Do you remember how she nearly broke into tears and you and I had to calm her down?"

"Oh, you did not do an ounce of calming down!" I said with a laugh. "You were laughing at her so hard and making her cry more!" It was true. Shannon laughed at Krista's hysterics while I tried to assure that not only would be survive the trip across the lake, but Hogwarts would be the best years of our lives.

"Well it was funny," Shannon justified, smirking and drinking her tea. "Of course I knew she wouldn't be in Gryffindor. Hufflepuff suits her." We both glanced at the Hufflepuff table where Krista was sitting with a group of her own friends. Funny how being sorted into different houses can completely change your life. Or at least your group of friends. "So have you gotten any more information out of Reid about the ball?"

"They're just waiting on McGonagall's approval, its set for the middle of April. And being as it's already the middle of February, we'll need to start looking for gowns." I said, my face lighting up with the prospect of shopping. "We can check out Witch Wear when we go to Hogsmeade tomorrow! They usually don't have that big of a selection, but their catalogue has everything." It was true, nearly all of my aunts had their bridesmaids gowns ordered from there and since I was the first (and of course the cutest) child around, I was nearly always the flower girl.

"Well you would know, my little shopaholic." Shannon said, laughing.

"Like you don't benefit from being the same size as me," I pointed out, teasing her. Without me, Shannon's wardrobe would consist soley of trainers, jeans and old tee shirts. Much as I love the girl, she has a limited fashion sense. She calls it "other priorities." I've tried to explain there is no higher priority than looking at least halfway decent, but it falls on deaf ears.

"I never said I was complaining!"

* * *

><p>As I looked out the window of the library on top the fresh snow covering the grounds I once again found myself grateful that Dad had convinced Mum that Hogwarts would be a more practical education for my siblings and I. My mum was nervous that I would be reminded of the war too much, but my dad smartly pointed out that there were reminders everywhere outside of school. He was right. But wasn't the plaques or the memorial services or the history lessons that reminded me of it, though. It was the hand on the clock at The Burrow that once belonged to my Uncle Fred, it was the picture of Teddy and his parents, the only one he had of them all together. Those were the real reminders of the war because those were the reminders that hit me at the heart.<p>

"You okay?" I heard a male voice say. I looked away from the window and saw Nathan Hammels, looking at me, concerned. I didn't realize a few tears had slipped down my face and I quickly brushed them off, trying not to look embarrassed.

"I'm fine, just thinking too much." I said, giving him a small smile. Nathan grinned.

"Mind if I sit at your table then? I'm being stalked by the team."

"Sure," I said, motioning to the empty seat across from me. He took out his Charms book and I went back to reading my Herbology one. Nathan was in Gryffindor and a seventh year and happened to be one of Teddy's best mates. He played Seeker and was captain of the house team this year. He was good-looking in the sense that he had a nice smile and fit build, but lost points in my book because of his association with Teddy. That, and the fact that he and Julianne had a tendency to wind up in the same bed once they had too many firewhiskeys.

We worked for another hour, occasionally talking but mostly getting our work done. N.E.W.T.s are no joke. A familiar voice broke my concentration, however and raised my annoyance level.

"Aw, am I interrupting a study date?" Teddy stood by our table, his mocking smile plastered on his stupid face. I scowled at him and Nathan chuckled.

"Surprised you know what studying looks like," He said. "Not sure I ever see you do much of it."

"Brains _and_ wit!" Teddy laughed, pulling a seat up next to Nathan. Lovely.

"If you don't have work to do, why are you in the library?" I asked, noticing he had no books with him. "Finally decided to learn how to read?"

"Sorry Vic, we already made a 'dumb Teddy' joke today, better luck next time." Teddy said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes and stood up, waving my wand so my parchment, quills and books went neatly into my bag.

"Thanks for keeping me company, Nathan." I said, before turning to leave. Merlin, why did Teddy have to be so bloody annoying? I walked down the hall, mentally ticking off the reasons why he annoyed me so much and how wonderful it will be next year when he's not around to cause me such irritation. By the time I got back to the common room, I had cheered myself up with thoughts of a Teddy-free Hogwarts. I walked through the portrait and saw Professor Longbottom standing there, something that was a little odd.

"Victoire," he said, sounding relived to see me.

"Professor?" I asked, uncertain. He walked toward me, his expression grave. My mind started racing, someone was hurt, Dom, Louis, Fred or James or maybe one of my family members not at Hogwarts, maybe it was my mum-

"Shannon Shears' grandfather passed away this morning." My heart sank. Shannon's grandfather had been sick for a while, but I knew this news would still hit her pretty hard. "Her mother had already come to get her, she should be back in school on Monday."

"I'll write her," I said, my voice cracking. Merlin, I was an emotional mess today.

"That's a true friend," Professor Longbottom said, smiling. I nodded and excused myself to my dormitory. Daniella and Dee were sitting on their respective beds, having a gossip. They looked at me quizzically, but I didn't say anything. I was never in the mood for those two but especially not today. I put my schoolbag down and only took my quill and parchment downstairs. Taking a seat near the fireplace, I put the quill to the parchment and froze. What in the world was I supposed to say?

A half hour later, the only thing I had on the parchment was _Dear Shannon_. Professor Longbottom was wrong, I was a terrible friend. Why couldn't I come up with something sincere and genuine to say to my closest friend? I sighed in frustration when I felt someone plop down in the seat next to me on the couch.

"Forget how to spell your name?" I looked up into the smirking face of Teddy Lupin. Damnit. "I'll help you, it's c-o-n-c-i-t-"

"Shove it, Lupin." I said, a bit harsher than our normal banter of hatred. He raised a single eyebrow inquisitively. "Shannon's granddad died and I don't know what to write," I explained, even though he didn't deserve an explanation. Teddy's expression immediately went from annoying to sympathetic.

"Need any help?" Now it was _my_ turn to raise one eyebrow (he wasn't the only one who Uncle Charlie had taught that trick to). "Come off it Vic, you know I'm a halfway decent writer." Unfortunately, that part was true. Teddy used to write funny stories for the Potter kids all of the time and they were (however much it pains me to admit it) pretty hysterical.

"But if you write it, it won't sound like me and I'll sound even more insincere than if I don't send a letter at all." I reasoned but Teddy shook his head.

"Honestly, the fact you are writing her a letter at all is sincere. Just say that you are sorry, you know she and her grandfather were close and…" Teddy scratched his chin, which was in need of a proper shave. "And that you miss her already and are there for her and her family with anything they need." I contemplated the advice he gave. It wasn't half bad actually.

"I'll have to admit, I'm a little shocked." I said, actually giving him a small smile. "Thanks, Teddy. You actually managed to go five minutes without being irritating."

"And double points because I'm helpful," Teddy said, but I has spoken too soon. He got up from his seat, tugged the ribbon out of my hair and ran up the stairs to his dormitory.

Git.

* * *

><p>The next morning I woke up, excited for a minute that it was a Hogsmeade trip, but then felt gloomy when I remembered Shannon was not here. I debated staying in the castle and finishing up some work, but then decided against it. We only got to leave the castle every so often and I wasn't going to spend it inside while everyone else was having a good time. Maybe I could drag Dominique into looking at ballgowns with me.<p>

I dressed in warm tan corduroys, a deep red sweater and my navy pea coat. Paired with my Gryffindor gloves, scarf and hat, I was ready to grab some breakfast before heading out. I made my way down the stairs and ran smack into Julianne.

"Vic! I was just going to come find you," She said, upon realizing it was me.

"Really?" I asked. "Why?"

"Well, I heard about Shannon, that's awful." She said, her face in an uncharacteristic frown. "So I wanted to see if you wanted to shop with me in Hogsmeade." I smiled and immediately accepted, the day looking much brighter. Julianne was a fun girl to hang around with and I had never been to Hogsmeade with her before. We ate breakfast then made our way to the Entrance Hall.

"Who are we waiting for?" I asked. Julianne gave me an apprehensive smile.

"Nathan, Lyle, Adam and…Teddy." I groaned and Julianne looked at me pleadingly.

"Oh come on Victoire, it'll be fun! I always hand out with the guys on Hogsmeade trips and Lucy Rivers is doing detention for skipping Charms so I need a female companion!"

"Alright, alright, just don't be surprised if Teddy or I end up hexing each other." Even though he did help me write a decent letter to Shannon last night, I was still thoroughly annoyed that he stole my ribbon and that he was just so bloody arrogant.

"I don't understand it—have you two fought your _entire_ life?" She asked. Everyone knew Teddy was basically a Potter which meant he was basically a Weasley.

"Pretty much." I answered. "Our personalities just don't click. Teddy is pigheaded and annoying and a prat-"

"-While you are bratty, snobby and obsessed with looking perfect." A voice sounded behind me and I spun around to see a smirking Teddy looking at me. "Not that you ever achieve it."

"You can contort your hair to a thousand different colors and you will still look like an idiot." I coolly said to him.

This was going to be a _fun_ day.


	4. Hogwarts Elite

_Thank you guys so much for the positive feedback and support with this story! This chapter is still in Vic's POV but the next one will be in Teddy's!_

**Hogwarts Elite**

As I made my way to Hogsmeade, I wondered what people thought as they looked at the six of us, walking together in a group. Quidditch star Nathan, sneaking looks at Julianne, who was pulling her long brown hair into a ponytail and making a face at Adam, who had just told a particularly vulgar joke. Lyle, the most brawny but sweet of them all, was timing Teddy to see how many times the metamorphous could change his hair color in one minute. I knew we looked like the poster children for "students on a weekend" and the thought was confirmed when I looked to my right and saw wide-eyed third years watching us. Then I remembered why.

Sometimes I really hate being the daughter of war heroes, part-Veela and niece of Harry Potter. I wonder if when my younger cousins go to school there will still be the same level of admiration and celebrity that goes along with having the last name Weasley. When would the novelty wear off?

"So, where to first?" Julianne asked when we reached the start of the village. "I heard Honeydukes got a whole new shipment of Sugar Quills." Julianne was one of those girls who could eat all of the sweets in the world and never have a single pimple or gain a single pound.

"It's settled then!" Lyle said, pounding a fist in the air triumphantly. "On to the sweets!"

We spent nearly an hour in Honeydukes and I bought a chocolate frog to enjoy for the sole reason that I hadn't had one in a while. When I opened the box, I started to chuckle.

"Who'd you get?" Nathan asked, opening his bag of Every Flavor Beans and peering over my shoulder.

"My Uncle Ron," I said, with a laugh, though I knew no one would find it as funny as I did. I heard a small chuckle from next to me and I made eye contact with Teddy. We smiled (not scowled!) at each other, both remembering Christmas dinner one year. Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione had an announcement, but instead of announcing that Hermione was pregnant with Hugo (like he was supposed to), Ron instead announced that he, Harry and Hermione were to be honored on Chocolate Frog cards. Aunt Hermione did not appreciate the fact that Ron felt it more exciting and important to announce that over his second child. The fight between them was one of their more entertaining ones which ended up with Ron's face being covered in peas.

"What does the back of his say again?" Teddy asked me and I flipped over the picture of him waving at me.

"Ron Weasley: Member of the Golden Trio of the Second Wizarding War," I started, making a face at the pretentious title. "Ron, most famous for his help to defeat The Dark Lord, co-runs Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes in Diagon Alley. Ron enjoys watching the Chudley Cannons and beating Harry at Wizard's Chess."

"I remember how Molly was so mad at him for that, saying it was an inappropriate card."

"Yeah, well Uncle Harry got him back. 'Harry likes treacle tart and dating his best friend's sister.' Aunt Ginny was actually quite flattered." I smiled; Aunt Ginny was one of my favorite aunts.

"That's because Gin likes taking the mickey out of Ron as much as Harry." Teddy grinned and I laughed, remembering years of watching them go back and forth at each other. Teddy and I shared a smile, a real smile, and I found myself not even wanting to roll my eyes. What the hell was going on? I watched as Lyle engaged Teddy in a conversation about the chances of Puddlemere beating the Tornados and I turned my attention to Julianne who was scrutinizing the scene outside the window.

"We should just go to the Three Broomsticks and get a bottle of firewhiskey, it's cold out there." She pointed to the window, which showed the wind whipping the snow across the village. "Don't worry Vic, you know they won't care that you're sixteen." I knew they wouldn't care, even though the bartenders knew exactly how old I was. I contemplated if it was because I was a Weasley or part-Veela, before I noticed Teddy starting to leave alone.

"Where are you going, Lupin?" I asked. He studied me for a moment then gave a jerk of the head. Annoyed but still curious, I followed him. He was walking at a pretty quick pace up the street and bad weather made me a few feet behind him at all times. Completely out of breath, I finally caught up to him. He was leaning on the rickety fence , staring at the Shrieking Shack. His stare was so intense, that I didn't even think he noticed me walk up next to him, but then he cleared his throat.

"My dad must have had really great friends." I knew the stories and I knew what he was referring to, but I had no idea how to respond to that sentence. Thankfully, he continued. "I just come up here sometimes and…I don't know. Wonder about it all. Wish that he was here to tell me the stories." We stood in silence for a few moments before Teddy turned and looked at me. "Does your dad ever talk about it?" I knew what he was referring to there too.

"Rarely. When I was younger, he just said they were scars from the war. I didn't ask anymore, I thought it had been magic that did that but then I found out the stories right before you left for Hogwarts." Teddy nodded. The parents had all decided to tell us (most of) the details before we left for school, in case it came up during lessons or people asked us questions. They told Teddy and I together though. It had been one of the few days of our childhood that I remembered us not fighting. We just sat on the couch as my dad and mum and Harry and Ginny talked to us about the war. I remember crying and Teddy's hair had been black for days. I noticed Teddy had looked back at the Shrieking Shack, staring at it again and I did the same.

I don't know how long we stood there for, but suddenly Teddy took a deep breath, glanced at the sky and smirked, and started back down the hill.

"God Lupin, wait up!" I angrily said, following him down the path. I was close enough now to hear him chuckling.

"So what did ickle baby Weasley think of her first day hanging out with the big kids?" He teased. So we were back to that now.

"Come of it, I'm not _that_ much younger than you are!" I whined. I hated when he pulled the older kid card, it was as bad as when he had gone to Hogwarts first and came back with all of these great stories, which he would always end the sentence with 'you wouldn't understand Vic, it's a Hogwarts thing.'

"And yet young enough that you can't use magic outside of school," Teddy said and (probably just to irritate me more) he pulled out his wand and turned some of the snow bright blue. He really was the most annoying thing ever. "Now don't get too drunk in here," Teddy said as we reached the Three Broomsticks. "The last thing I need to do today is carry you up to the school."

"Like you would be gentlemen enough," I retorted and pushed past him to walk into the bar. I quickly spotted the group in the back and immediately accepted a glass of fire whiskey upon sitting down next to Julianne. I didn't really love the amber liquid (wine was definitely more of my thing) but it certainly warmed me up.

"You two have fun?" Julianne raised her eyebrows as Teddy joined the table and took a swig right from the bottle. Gross.

"Bout as much fun as petting a blast-ended skrewt," Teddy replied and winked at me. My response was to sip more of my firewhiskey and attempt to act mature.

We stayed in the Three Broomsticks until the sun began to set and, feeling happier because of both the alcohol and the lovely day, set back towards the castle. The boys had each bought a bottle of firewhiskey and had charmed it to be smaller so they could smuggle it into school. It was Nathan's birthday the next weekend so they were stocking up while they could. Julianne and Teddy were discussing the party they would throw in the common room and were arguing about what music to play. Though they both liked muggle music, Julianne liked the popular tunes, song which Teddy complained would make his ears bleed.

"You've got to hang out with us more Victoire," Adam told me, putting his arm around my neck. He had drank the most of us all, but I decided to indulge him a little.

"And why is that, Adam?" I asked grinning up at him. Guess Adam wasn't the only one who had been drinking.

"Because we are Hogwarts elite." He giggled after he said it and I couldn't help but giggle too. Adam was certainly good-looking and his commentary during Quidditch matches was hysterical but he was the kind of kid who never took himself too seriously.

"Well I will hang out with you lot anytime." I promised him.

"Though you could do without Lupin though, huh?" He looked pointedly at Teddy then back to me.

"Absolutely." I answered and Teddy turned around and started to walk backwards. A mocking smile was on his face and I internally groaned, knowing Adam and I were new material for him to mock me for.

"Well, well, well, aren't you two cozy!" He said, his voice booming much louder than it needed it be.

"Jealous?" Adam laughed good-naturally and Teddy scoffed.

"Yeah, it's absolutely killing me inside." Teddy said, his voice laced with sarcasm and he turned back to Julianne.

"You know, it actually might be." Adam told me and I made a face.

"That'll be the day." I laughed as the wind picked up. I was glad Adam's arm was around me, it was getting awfully cold.

"You want to place a wager on it then?" Adam asked, his eyes twinkling. Adam was a notorious gambler, he would bet on things from Quidditch matches to O.W.L. results.

"I'd hate to rob you of your galleons, Adam. There is no way Teddy Lupin would ever feel anything remotely close to jealousy upon seeing me with another guy."

"We're all jealous when we see you with another guy," Adam said and then made a goofy face that I couldn't but laugh at. This was the kind of days I loved to have, the ones where I just felt totally happy.

We made our way back to the castle and the warmth of the common room was immediately appreciated by our frozen bodies. Lyle whipped out a deck of exploding snap cards and the fun continued well into evening. The firewhiskey was wearing off and the hunger was setting in and Julianne and Nathan volunteered to go down to the kitchens and get some food.

"They won't be back for a while," Teddy commented and I chuckled and then looked around when I realized I was the only one laughing. Adam had fallen asleep in one of the armchairs and Lyle had gone up to the dormitories, probably to look for another game. "So, you got a thing for Adam or what?"

"You got a thing for being nosy or what?" I asked, raising one eyebrow. "But to answer your question, no I don't."

"What, he's not good enough for Victoire Weasley to make her mark on and scar him for life?" Teddy asked, leaning back in a chair.

"And what exactly do you mean but that?" I asked angrily. "If you are implying what I think you are implying Lupin, then you are in for a nice kick in the-"

"Language, Weasley. You don't want to taint your perfect image."

"Why would I bother to taint it when associating with you does more damage than I ever could?" I challenged, starting to feel my blood boil.

"Looks like the whiskey makes for a witty Weasley!" Teddy teased and I had the bizarre and sudden urge to tackle him to the ground.

"Will you two shut up already?" Adam asked, stirring in the chair. "Honestly, it's like living with an old married couple." Teddy made a gagging noise.

"Never use the words married and Victoire in a sentence together again." He said, making a face. "Unless of course you are betting on the number of _men_ she is going to marry." I felt my eyes turn to slits and before I could really process what I was doing, I waved my wand and suddenly Teddy was dangling by his ankle upside down. "ARGH!" he screamed and Adam woke up and roared with laughter. I simply smirked and batted my eyelashes at the upside down face of Teddy Lupin. Flipping my hair over my shoulder, I spun around and gracefully walked up the staircase to my dormitory, my pride drowning out the sounds of Adam's laughs and Teddy's swears behind me.


	5. Party Animal

_You guys are seriously the best readers EVER and I am so grateful for your support with this story! So here is the chapter from Teddy's point of view. I had so much fun getting into his head and I think you guys will enjoy his perspective on Victorire. He views her a lot differently than she views herself and that is definitely going to be important to this story. Things are starting to spice up and I hope you guys enjoy!_

**Party Animal**

TEDDY

Fridays were the best kind of days. You still had all of the promise of the weekend and that refreshing feeling of accomplishment of surviving another week. This weekend definitely promised to be a good one, Nate was turning eighteen and the bottles of firewhiskey and butterbeer we smuggled would definitely make the common room lively. I walked back from History of Magic with a lighter step when I heard a voice call from behind me.

"Oi! _Lupin_!" A pissed off Victoire Weasley was music to my ears. One of the things that made blokes go after her and girls envy her was Victoire's ability to always be calm and poised. Not only did she always look put together, nine times out of ten she acted in the same manner. I prided myself on being the one person who could rile her up on any given day.

"What did I do now?" I asked, casually turning around and cocking my head to the side. I honestly didn't know. She stopped and put her hands on her hips and squinted her eyes at me and at that moment she looked exactly like she did when she was six years old. I smirked and this only fueled her fire.

"Explain to me why you told James he was allowed to come to Nathan's party tonight." She simply stated.

"Cause he is." I replied. "He's a Gryffindor, it's a Gryffindor party-"

"He's barely twelve!"

"He's not going to drink!" I hated when she got all coddley with the younger cousins. James wasn't even that young either. "Look Vic, the kid can take care of himself. Plus, I'll be there-"

"Oh yes, that is _great_ comfort." She said sarcastically.

"Give it a rest Vic, you aren't his mum." Now she was just getting annoying and starting to ruin my good mood. "It's not like you have to be worried he'll write to the family if you get too drunk or anything. You'll keep your shining halo by being your scared little self." I raised one eyebrow at her, enjoying the fact that her cheeks flushed.

"I am not scared. Just because I'm not going around getting smashed at every occasion-"

"You've never even been close to wasted." I laughed. Victoire would never do something that could potentially cause her to lose her cool, besides fighting with me. But then I saw something in her eyes and she took a deep breath and planted that perfect, simple and yet deadly smile on her lips.

"Fine." She said and fluttered her eyelashes at me. "I'll see you tonight then." And with that, she picked up the pace and strode past me. I watched her until she turned the corridor in complete confusion. What had she meant by that? Since when does she just stop and pull a one eighty with the conversation? I racked my brain for answers or explanations but couldn't come up with any.

Victoire Weasley was not only a lunatic, she was making me one as well.

* * *

><p>"To Nathaniel Antioch Hammels!" I raised my glass of firewhiskey and the room cheered and Nathan, Lyle, Adam and I downed our glasses.<p>

"You just had to use the middle name," Nate rolled his eyes but was laughing. Lyle went to go talk to Louis Weasley while Adam walked right up to a group of fifth year girls. The party was starting off nicely and I smiled at my closest friend.

"Don't tell me I missed the first shot!" Julianne walked up to the four of us and I put my arm around her.

"Lucky for you, Lockhart, we've got many more to take." I said and she grinned.

"Good. Vic!" She called across the room. "Come catch up!" I followed her gaze across the room to see Victoire and Shannon standing and talking to one another. Victoire nodded and crossed the room. Having grown up around Victoire, I was used to guys staring at her, almost as if under a spell. Tonight though, a few were staring at her in an entirely new way.

"Aren't you supposed to be wearing pants?" I asked when she approached.

"It's a dress." She rolled her eyes and tried to ignore me. It sure didn't look like a dress. The black _thing _could hardly be considered a dress. "Anyway, I'm all up for catching up." She smiled brightly at Julianne and took a glass from her.

"Want one Shannon?" Julianne asked, holding a full glass out to her.

"No, I'll be sticking with the butterbeer tonight." Shannon held up her bottle and Julianne nodded.

"I'll take it!" Victorie said, taking the glass. She took both shots, one after the other. _Here we go_.

"Impressive!" Nathan nodded his head enthusiastically.

"I'm being fun tonight," Victoire responded sweetly and gave me a look, as if challenging me to say something. I decided against giving her the satisfaction and just shook my head and took a swig of the butterbeer that was sitting on the table.

* * *

><p>My group of friends had a tendency to throw the parties in Gryffindor tower and, though I considered myself a bit of an introvert, I enjoyed them. Growing up I had always loved going to the big Weasley family gatherings, there was just so much noise and happiness and you couldn't help but get caught up in it. The same could be said for the Gryffindor parties, but instead of getting caught up in a pickup game of Quidditch, my classmates got caught up in drinking ridiculous amounts of alcohol. I had not reached the ridiculous level tonight (though I was getting close); I was having far too much fun watching my classmates around me get clobbered.<p>

"One more shot with me?" Nathan came up to me holding the near empty bottle of firewhiskey and grinning like an idiot.

"Anything for the birthday boy," I laughed and grabbed the two nearest glasses, filling them with the amber liquid. "Where's Julianne off at?"

"Dancing with Victoire" Nathan answered , downing his drink and clumsily pointing towards the area of the room where Julianne and Victorie were swinging each other around by the radio (which happened to be playing of my favorite Oasis songs). Victoire was laughing, really laughing, in the unguarded and carefree way that I had only ever seen her do when she was around her family. Part of her hair had fallen out of the clip she had used to pin it back and she had smudged part of her lipstick. I had never seen her look so un-put-together…and I also thought she never looked more beautiful.

Woah. What did I just think? Guess I had more firewhiskey than I thought.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to Nathan who was intently watching Julianne. Those two were like watching a play, one where they both swear they are 'just friends' but they snog one another every chance they get.

"Ahoy lads!" Lyle came up to the pair of us. "Great party Nate, so happy you were born this day. Have either of you seen Adam? Mate's been missing for nearly an hour." I looked around the common room, not seeing Adam anywhere.

"You know him, he's probably in our room snogging some girl." Nathan said. "Speaking of," he drank the remainder of the butterbeer he held in one hand and made a beeline for Julianne.

"Victoire looks like she's having fun," Lyle commented and I once again found myself glancing at her. As Nathan had taken Julianne away, Victoire was standing in a circle of mostly sixth years and she had just downed another shot. "She's...well she looks like she's having fun." Lyle said quickly and a faint blush rose in his cheek, something that I noticed.

"Wait…do you fancy her?" I asked and Lyle gave a noncommittal shrug.

"It's Victoire Weasley." He simply answered. "Who _doesn't_ fancy her?" And then he walked over to his younger brother and his group of friends.

"I bloody well don't." I muttered, just as the girl herself started to walk towards me. Here we go. I took another shot of firewhiskey when she approached.

"Hey Lupin!" She said brightly. This was new. "I'm going on a walk!" She smiled and then went to walk past me and out the door.

"Oh no you don't," I trailed her. "You're going to get caught and get us all busted if you do."

"Am not!" She said, picking up her pace. I noticed she was walking in zig zags. I followed her out of the portrait hole and into the corridor.

"Come on Vic, don't be a pain." I pleaded. She turned around with her hands on her hips. Damn that dress was short.

"But Teddy! I want to go swimming in the lake!"

"What?" I asked, following her as she started to walk away again. "Why the hell do you think that is a good idea?" She gave a shrug and giggled and I grabbed her arm to stop her from walking away.

"Ow!" She said and the sudden stop of movement caused her to lose her balance and she fell to the floor, taking me down with her. I gave her an incredulous look and she burst out laughing. _That_ laugh again. Her head was thrown back and she was laughing and I couldn't help laughing too. And so we stayed for a few minutes before we calmed down and I looked around.

"We're lucky no one found us." I told her and she nodded, her expression suddenly turning exhausted. "Bedtime Vic?" I asked and she sleepily nodded. The girl looked like she was about to fall asleep on the spot. I helped her to her feet and she shocked me when she leaned her head against my chest. I cracked a grin and ruffled her hair. We walked back through the portrait hole and I was surprised to see the common room virtually empty. Had we been out in the hall longer than I thought? I pondered it and then I noticed Victoire was heading up the stairs to the boy's dormitory. "Wrong way, party animal." I said but she shook her head.

"If I go to my dormitory, Daniella will be a bitch because I'm drunk," She reasoned, her head slightly swaying. "Why am I so drunk Teddy-bear?"

"Because firewhiskey was your friend tonight," I told her and I watched her mull it over for a second.

"Well, you're my friend tonight too. And I am sleeping in your bed." She put her hands on her hips and gave me a look, as if daring me to say no. She was unreasonable enough sober, I knew drunk Victoire would be a losing battle.

"Fine, just don't make too much noise." I groaned and her bright blue eyes shone. She spun on her heel and sauntered up the stairs and I closely followed her, my hand on her shoulder to steady her. Truth was, my vision was starting to get fuzzy and I was exhausted so I let her do whatever she wanted. Victoire carefully opened the door and then turned to me.

"Which one is your bed?" Note to self, teach Victoire how to whisper. I pointed in the direction and she dramatically tiptoed across the room and got into the bed. I got in the other side and felt a poke at my back.

"What?" I asked, turning over, and the finger she used to poke me was pointed at me.

"Touch me and I will hex you!" she said before rolling herself over. I scoffed and rolled myself back over so our backs were facing each other. Touch her?

Not a chance in hell.


	6. Ramifications

_Sorry for the updating delay! Hope you guys enjoy it anyway,things are definitely spicing up in the story and I am having so much fun writing them. This chapter is back in Victoire's POV, we won't hear from Teddy again for a little bit_

**Ramifications**

Ow. Ow, ow, ow, ow, _ow_. My head was pounding before I even opened my eyes and I knew that wasn't a good sign. I let out a small groan and nuzzled deeper into my pillow. Wait. This thing was way too hard to be my pillow. I cracked open my left eye only to find that it was not a pillow I was nuzzling into, it was someone's bare chest. I opened the other eye and looked up to find the said chest belonged to Teddy Lupin.

"Argh!" I screamed and sat straight up, something that apparently was not good for my hangover and the room immediately started to spin. I leaned over as fast as I could, found a wastebin and threw up into it. I felt Teddy stir next to me.

"Good morning to you too." Teddy grumbled. I stopped throwing up and slowly lifted my head and sat up and looked at Teddy. He reached for an empty glass and his wand from his bedside table and filled the glass with water. "Here," he said, handing the glass to me and then he waved his wand at the wastebin and the contents disappeared.

"Why am I here?" I asked groggily.

"You insisted. Something about Daniella being a bitch if you came back drunk." Teddy rubbed his own head. I groaned. She wasn't going to be any better when I walk of shamed it into my dormitory.

"I think I'm going to find my shoes…" I carefully got out of the bed and looked around, spotting my silver heels a foot away from the bed. I picked them up and turned back to Teddy and took a deep breath. "Um…thank you." He nodded and put his head back on his pillow and closed his eyes. I turned to leave and tried to quietly walk out of the room before-

"Morning Victoire," I heard a voice from behind me. I slowly turned and Julianne, who was nuzzled up in Nathan's bed, gave me a pointed look. I gave a small wave with the hand that held my shoes, turned on my feet and walked out the door.

I'm never drinking firewhiskey again. Ever. I am sticking with elf wine for the rest of my life.

I walked as fast as I could down the boy's stairs, got to the bottom and quickly turned so I could go up the girls stairs when I ran smack into my sister.

"You look bloody awful," She commented, looking me up and down.

"You don't even know the half of it," I groaned. I looked up the stairs that led to my door, dreading going there.

"Well, come on then." Dominique took my hand and dragged me into the fifth year girls dormitory. "The other girls all went down to breakfast." She explained when I looked around the empty room. "Sit down and I'll get you some water and new clothes." I all too readily lay down on her bed and accepted the glass of water she handed me. As I sipped it, I watched her pull pajamas out of her trunk and she handed them to me.

"Thank you," I said, taking them and changing out of my dress.

"Well if you went back to your room in that dress, people would have thought you were up to something last night." Dominique simply said. "Speaking of, how did the rest of your night go? Last I saw you were drinking right from the firewhiskey bottle and talking to Christianson Ross."

"I don't even know," I moaned. "I remember talking to him and then I went to do something and ran in to Teddy..." I trailed off and sat back down on the bed and put my head in my hands. "And then I woke up next to Teddy this morning."

"You WHAT!" Dominique looked flabbergasted and I guess I didn't blame her.

"I mean we didn't snog or anything," I quickly assured her. And I was pretty sure we hadn't. Even drunk me had _some_ standards. "He took care of me though and let me stay because I was apparently having a fit at what Daniella would say if I went back drunk." Dominique smiled and shook her head.

"What was your reaction when you woke up this morning?"

"I threw up." I answered and she laughed, causing me to laugh a little too. "It's his entire bloody fault anyway, he's the one who basically told me I was no fun and never got drunk. So I did." _And now I remember why I never do._

"Well at least you are changed now and have some water in you . When you go back to your dormitory you can tell Daniella and everyone else that you spent the night in my room because we were having a gossip and you didn't feel like going back." Dominique should have been in Ravenclaw.

"You are the best sister ever, you know that?" I asked. She really was and I got the sinking feeling that I didn't tell her enough. Her eyes lit up at the compliment and I resolved to hang out with her much more when we are at school. "Seriously Dom, you are saving me right now." I may have the Weasley temper, but Dom had always had out grandmother's kindness.

"So does this mean you and Teddy are friends now?" She asked. I made a face. I may owe Teddy for taking care of me, but I still stood by the fact that it was his fault in the first place. "Alright, alright, just making sure _everything _hasn't changed." I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly stood up.

"Thanks for everything Dom." I said as I picked up my dress and my shoes. "You really are the best."

"Course I am." She said with a cheeky grin and I made my way to my own dormitory. Bracing myself, I opened the door and was utterly delighted to find that no one was awake yet. I crept to my bed, slid under the covers and stashed my dress and heels underneath.

Though my head was pounding, my mind was racing. I had stayed the night in Teddy's bed. TEDDY'S BED. And this morning, he wasn't even a total git about it. I was completely humiliated about the situation, but it surprisingly was not awkward when I woke up in his arms. I mean, it's probably because I've known him since I was practically born, of course it makes sense that things weren't awkward. But would they be awkward now? I contemplated what it was going to be like the next time I saw him. Would he rag on me, would he not mention it, would he look at me like I was a freak show?

I groaned and rolled over, cursed myself for obsessing over Teddy and then snuggled into my pillow and sunk into a much needed sleep.

* * *

><p>Thank Merlin it was Saturday and I could put off my homework until tomorrow. I smiled at the thought as I dried off from my shower and put my clothes. The shower definitely made me feel better and I walked into my room feeling refreshed, combing my fingers through my hair. I waved my wand at my head and my hair instantly dried just the way I liked it. I started to put my foundation on when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.<p>

"Oh, Victoire, Julianne stopped by." Daniella said in a sickly-sweet voice. "She said Teddy found your clip under his pillow." I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up and my face start to heat up as I noticed my hair clip on the foot of my bed. _Play it cool, Vic._

"I'll be sure to thank her." I said calmly and started to coat on my mascara.

"Guess all the bickering is just an act then, huh?" Dee walked up to my side and looked at me. I kept my gaze on the mirror and ignored her. Why couldn't Shannon have been in here with me?

"I'm impressed Victoire, he was the one guy I thought could resist your charm." Daniella got up and stood next to Dee. "But I guess that's what made him more appealing, isn't it?"

"Seems like you've just figured me all out." I said coolly and I grabbed my wand and schoolbag. "Well, I've got to go to the library." I pushed past them and walked out the door.

"Oh, but we aren't done yet." Daniella followed me.

"Well I am." I walked quicker and reached the bottom of the stairs. I noticed the common room was buzzing with students and activities. Typical Saturday afternoon.

"I guess I'd be tired too if I stayed up all night shagging Teddy Lupin." Daniella's voice boomed across the common room, causing an eerie silence to wash over. I could feel everyone staring at me and it certainly didn't help that I was standing in the middle of the room. _Stay calm, stay calm_. I slowly turned around and raised one eyebrow.

"I guess I'd be tired if I spent so much time devoted to being a bitch and no time spent to finding a man of my own." Her face was absolutely priceless and, feeling satisfied, I flung my hair over my shoulder and made my way out of the common room. I caught a glimpse of Teddy's expression as I left. He was wide eyed and shaking his head. I guess I'll let him deal with the questions.

I rounded a few corridors and when I found one that I knew would stay deserted; I took a deep breath and sunk to the floor. A few tears prickled at my eyes and I didn't bother to wipe them. How had I gotten myself into such a mess? There were always rumors going around the school of who I was supposedly 'shagging' (even though I was a nice, clean virgin) and over the years I had learned to brush them off with grace and nonchalance. If I didn't fuel the fire, it usually went away. I couldn't help feeling that I had dug my own grave with this one though. The tears continued to fall, but when I heard footsteps approach me I hastily wiped them away. I looked up, seeing Reid look at me with a curious expression.

"Not who I was expecting to find here." He said smoothly and I shrugged.

"I could say the same about you. What are you doing at this end of the castle?"He sat down next to me.

"Did you ever just need to get away?" He asked and I let out a small laugh.

"Absolutely."We sat for a minute and I leaned my head against his shoulder. "Everyone thinks I slept with Teddy Lupin." Reid let out an amused laugh.

"Why's that?"

"Because I got piss drunk at a party last night and he took care of me and I woke up in his bed and Daniella Magnolie has a huge, ugly mouth." I pouted and Reid gave my shoulder a squeeze.

"Girls are bloody awful." He said and I giggled a little. He was so right.

"So I'm guessing things with Madeline didn't go so hot last night?" The Slytherins had also held a party last night and I had been giving Reid pep talks all week, encouraging him to go after Madeline Cress. She was beautiful and smart, the only thing that stood in the way of Reid asking her out was the fact that she was a seventh year ad he, a sixth.

"I got to witness her snogging Nott." Reid said bitterly. "So I drowned my sorrows in mead and woke up this morning on the floor of the common room." I stifled a giggle. At least I wasn't the only one who landed in the wrong place.

"So where do we go from here?" I asked, really not looking forward to getting up and facing it all.

"Well, having not worked up the courage to say anything, I go back to normal and endure a few jokes about waking up on the floor. You on the other hand, my dear, will have to face more than a few jokes." I groaned. It was too late to try to convince people that I had not done anything with Teddy. The best thing to do now was what I always did best; roll with it and hope to Merlin that it doesn't get back to my mum.

* * *

><p>After talking with Reid, I actually did go to the library, though I spent more time looking up hexes for Daniella than studying. I was about to take out my Herbology book when I heard someone sit down across the table from me.<p>

"How do you study with a hangover?" I looked up and Teddy was gazing at me with a weird expression, his light brown eyes studying me. His hair was its usual shade of sandy brown today, though he had sunk into his old habit of wearing it electric blue recently. I shrugged and he shook his head. "By the way, I calming explained to the entire house that you and I have not, in fact, been having a secret love affair. Thanks for leaving me to deal with that." He said sarcastically. "Louis looked ready to throw something at me." I giggled.

"Sorry for leaving you to deal with that. And throwing up this morning. And being a mess last night." I needed to start buying apologies in bulk. Teddy gave me a lopsided grin and I couldn't help but smile back.

"Yeah well, you owe me one Weasley. And don't think I'll forget about it."


	7. Getting Closer, Kind Of

_I'm so sorry for the delay! Please don't hate me! I love all of the reviews and am going to work on responding to each one individually from here on out. I loved writing this chapter, getting into Victoire's head is so much fun (though I have to admit, she and I share a good amount in common!) Enjoy!_

**Getting Closer, Kind Of**

My dormitory was not exactly a pleasant place to be. There was a level of tension that emanated off of Daniella and I whenever we were in the room at the same time, so I spent even less time there than usual over the following week. When I wasn't in class or studying in the library, I hung out with Dom or, increasingly more often, Teddy and his friends in the common room. There was a cluster of couches and oversized chairs that the seventh years hung out around, but Shannon and I knew we were always welcome. It was fun; we would play rounds of exploding snap or just talk about the most random and hysterical things. Julianne and Nathan would always sit next to each other and sneak looks at each other when they thought the rest of us weren't looking. We always saw, but never pointed it out to them.

"They weren't _that _bad!" Lyle defended himself. Adam and Nathan had been teasing him about the glasses Lyle used to wear in their first year, apparently they were square shaped and far too big for his face. "And Teddy had blue hair!"

"Woah, no hating on the blue!" Teddy laughed, changing his hair to the turquoise shade it had been for most of his life. "One hater of my abilities is enough for the group." He looked pointedly at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Believe me Lupin, that's the least of the things I hate about you."

"Let's hear the list then!" Adam said eagerly. He loved stirring the pot, especially when it came to Teddy and I bickering.

"Bad idea, we'll be here all night." Nathan laughed and leaned back into his couch, sending another not-so-secret look to Julianne.

"He's right Adam," I said smugly. "The list, which would start with the fact that he seems to own no other shirts than Muggle band ones, would be quite lengthy." Teddy raised one eyebrow.

"And in an obvious move, Victoire goes for the fashion sense jab," he said, his voice holding an air of sarcasm. "Sorry we can't all have a head the right shape for obnoxious bows." He motioned to the gray bow that was currently wrapped around the bottom of my plait, which was off to the side of my head.

"You certainly don't mind nicking them." I countered. It was true, he stole _another_ one from my head the other day. I was going to either have to break into his room and find them or owl my mum for some more. Or maybe I could owl Aunt Ginny and tell her what Teddy was doing. She could totally punish him. Teddy chuckled and leaned back in the chair, shaking his head. This means I won, right?

We moved on to another subject and continued to laugh and talk for the rest of the night. The fire started to flicker out, signaling it was time for bed and everyone started to groggily get up from their seats. I, however, stayed sitting in the chair.

"Coming Vic?" Shannon asked me but I lightly shook my head.

"I'm not too tired yet, I'll be up soon though." I gave her a smile letting her know I was okay and would be fine and she nodded and followed the rest of the crew upstairs. I took a deep breath and smiled; sometimes my favorite thing to do was to sit by the fire in the empty common room and just relax. This week could have been worse with the rumors and whispers that followed me, but it still wasn't enjoyable. I heard someone come back down the stairs and turned, seeing Teddy come in and walk over.

"Forgot something," he picked up his sweater from where he was sitting by the fire. He stopped and looked at me and I couldn't quite read his expression. "Erm…" he was struggling for words and I would have found it amusing if it wasn't so out of character. "Are you…this week. You okay?" He asked.

"I'm fine." I answered and it was (for the most part) true. "It's easier when you have nights like this."

"I get by with a little help from my friends," Teddy smiled. I knew he was quoting a song but I couldn't place it and apparently he read my mind. "The Beatles, muggle band that basically revolutionized rock and roll." He said and he sat down on the couch opposite me.

"Why do you listen to muggle music?" The question slipped out of my mouth before I really had a chance to think about it. I mean it was a good question to ask; as far as I could remember Teddy was always listening to muggle music and wearing the shirts, but it's not like he grew up muggle born or friends with any muggle children.

"One day when I was around ten years old," he started and I found myself intently listening. "I was bored and was rummaging around in my Gran's attic. I found this one chest that looked old and like it hadn't been touched in…well ten years." He said the last part with a bit of an attitude and I had a sinking feeling I knew why. "I opened it and it was a record player and quite the collection of old records of muggle bands. And I picked up the first one and took the record out," he had a sweet but sad smile on his face. "And out of it fell an old piece of parchment and it said," he stopped for a minute and bit his bottom lip, as if remembering. "It said 'Merry Christmas Moony! Lils told where to find this for you but of course she wouldn't let me go alone. See you soon, Prongs.'" He stopped and stared into the fire. His expression was resigned and I felt a surge of hatred to whatever Death Eaters had killed his parents.

"What album was it?" I asked, looking for a way to bring him back to conversation. The truth was I just couldn't stand watching him with that expression, the one of finality and of knowing that he'll never get to see his parents.

"It was this Pink Floyd, 'Another Brick in the Wall' and so I listened to it. And then I loved it. So I took the others records to my room and I've never really looked back. I used to beg Harry to take me to record shops in London and would spend all of my pocket money on them." Teddy grinned and I was grateful for the change in expression. "And then before I left for Hogwarts before my third year, Harry bought me my own record player to take back and forth. That way I could listen any time I wanted."

"And provide music for the parties," I smiled and he nodded. We sat in silence for a minute, but it was comfortable and I was intrigued by the fact that I was actually enjoying his company.

"So who's the lucky bloke that gets to take you to the spring ball?" Teddy asked and I looked at him in surprise. "I was at breakfast the other day," he said and it started to make more sense. At breakfast Dominique and I had both received parcels from our mother and inside each was a stunning gown for the ball. The two of us excitedly ran to Gryffindor tower to put the dresses out of harms way and be able to admire them without the worry of someone getting their greasy bacon hands on them.

"I haven't been asked yet," I told him. It was_ technically _true. I didn't count the second year that blurted out something that sounded like 'takemetotheball?' and then turned bright red and ran. Poor little guy.

"Really?" Teddy raised his eyebrows. "What about that Vipre kid in Slytherin?"

"Reid?" I asked, shocked that one, Teddy knew his name and two, Teddy knew he was a friend of mine. "He and I are just friends." I said with a shrug of my shoulders. What the hell did Teddy care anyway?

"Surrrrre." Teddy answered sarcastically.

"Just because you don't have the emotional capacity to be friends with a girl." I retorted and he raised one eyebrow. "What?" That was _my_ move and I was sick of him using it on me.

"You don't count then?" I made a face. My gut instinct was to tell him that of course I didn't count, but then I thought for a minute and realized that maybe he was right. When exactly we became friends, I wasn't sure (it most certainly was not when I woke up next to him and proceeded to throw up). But we had.

"Well...we're mortal enemies first." I said with a smirk and he cracked a sideways grin. I never noticed, but his teeth are really straight. I mean I guess he can control them with his whole metamorphgus thing. But still. When he grins like that…he doesn't look bad.

I mean, no worse than usual.

* * *

><p>"So how are we going to do your hair?" I asked Dominique. It was a Sunday afternoon and she and I decided to celebrate the late march weather and go for a walk around the grounds. We had about an hour to kill before we were meeting Louis and our other cousins for tea at Hagrid's. Once a month we all got together and usually tricked Hagrid into telling us stories about the mischief our parents had gotten up to in Hogwarts. It was nice, though we were all Gryffindors (Uncle Ron wouldn't let us go anywhere else) the five of us never really got together often. Teddy was always invited but he rarely came until this year when James got to school. I supposed Teddy felt he had to protect James and be a 'role model'. Honestly, James would be better off having the giant squid as a role model.<p>

"Can you style it the way you did for Grandad's retirement party last year?" She asked and I brightened at the thought, it took ages but it was one of my best creations. "I think it will go with the dress, yeah?" I thought about Dom's dress; it was a silk material in a rich midnight blue color. The gown was form fitting and halter style at the top and the back dipped just low enough to be classy, yet stunning.

"Definitely. It will be easier because I can actually use my wand to do your curls, not that bloody thing Aunt Hermione gave me." For my grandfather's retirement party I had curled all of Dom's normally straight hair and swept it off to one side, leaving a few ringlets framing her face.

"Perfect. How are you doing yours?" Truth was, I had about ten different ideas and was having a difficult time narrowing it down. My dress was black and strapless and is hugged my body tight until it hit my knees, when it flared out into a mermaid style bottom.

For as over bearing, bossy and judgmental as she was, my mother sure knew how to dress the two of us.

"I don't know, I was thinking maybe—is that James?" I asked suddenly, pointing at someone flying around the Quidditch pitch. I recognized him by the bright red Weasley sweater he had gotten last Christmas, knowing that it had a broomstick on the front. I also recognized him by the fact that he was a phenomenal flyer, even at a young age. Not only had he hit the Quidditch genetic lottery, James had always grown up with many relatives who were all to ready to play with him at any hour of the day.

"I wonder whose broom he took," Dominique mused. "I mean, first years aren't allowed, right?" I didn't think about that, but she was right. James was devastated that he couldn't bring a broom to Hogwarts and that the house team did not have any openings this year, so he couldn't even pull an Uncle Harry and start in his first year.

"I have a feeling James somehow got past that rule." I watched him and shook my head. James was hands down my most mischievous cousin. In his first few months at school he had served more detentions that Dom, Louis and I combined. We watched him for a few minutes before he swooped down, landing gracefully and, upon seeing us, raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We could ask you the same question." Dominique looked pointedly at him and James looked sheepish. "Is that your broom?"

"Nope." He answered, and showed them. The broom was a Comet and I knew James had gotten a new edition o f the Firebolt for his tenth birthday. But that broom looked vaguely familiar…

"James Potter, did you take Nathan Hammel's broom?" I asked, my jaw dropping.

"I didn't take it!" James threw his hands up in surrender. "We have a deal worked out!"

"A deal?" I asked, half laughing and half sighing. "What are you talking about." James shifted from one foot to the other.

"Well…see…Nathan knows that I miss flying and it's killing me not to have my broom here. And he knows what that's like so he lends me his on Sundays." James finished the sentence with a smile, but he wasn't getting past me.

"And what do you have to do in return?" I rolled my eyes.

"Pull a few pranks here and there. Nothing I don't do already." James supplied but I narrowed my eyes at him. He was definitely leaving something out. "Alright, fine! I'm just supposed to target guys that flirt with Julianne! He gives me a list when I return his broom and I go after the guys that week. They never suspect me, son of Harry Potter and little first year so it usually works out!"

"Are you serious!" I was laughing, trust Nathan to do something so idiotic and basically employ James to take out anyone interested in Julianne. Dominque rolled her eyes and James shrugged light-heartedly. When I looked at James, I had to smile. I remembered when he was born, I remembered babysitting him and Albus and Lily when they were younger. I couldn't believe he was at Hogwarts already. I suddenly felt a lot older than sixteen.

"Race you to Hagrid's!" He said and the three of us took off running in the directions of the hut. And then, for a few minutes, I felt like we were young kids again and at the Burrow and I didn't feel so old anymore.


	8. The Ball

_I'll save you guys the long story of why this chapter is going up so late (I could't get it perfect for the longest time!) and just give you the chapter! Your reviews are all so amazing, thank you for each and every one of them. They make my day :)_

**The Ball**

"How do you two manage to look like a princess," Shannon said pointing at Dominique. "And a super model." She pointed a freshly manicured finger at me. "For a simple ball at Hogwarts?"

"Simple!" I said, my eyes wide. "Shannon Shears, this is the first ball we have had in all of our six years of schooling. It is a night to remember! Especially for you, Mrs. Nelnick." I wiggled by eyebrows at Shannon rolled her eyes, laughing. Lyle had asked her to be his date for the ball and she had gladly accepted. I had to tease her after she had given me so much grief about Reid. Not as much as someone else had though…

_FLASHBACK_

"So Victoire, did you snag yourself a date for the ball yet?" Adam asked as we all hung out around the fire. It was becoming sort of a tradition; whoever wasn't doing homework would hang out by the fire in our little group. Adam (who I had never seen so much as crack open a book) and Teddy (who thought studying was a waste of time) were almost always there.

"Actually…yes." I answered and smiled sweetly. He looked crestfallen and Julianne's eyes grew wide.

"Who?" She asked.

"Reid Vipre, he's in Slytherin-"

"The hott prefect?" Julianne asked excitedly. "Good choice Vic, he is quite a catch." Nathan made a face at her statement and I smiled and shrugged. Reid had asked me in Herbology and since we were good friends, I agreed. I heard a cocky laugh from the right of me and I gritted my teeth knowing exactly what Teddy was thinking.

"What?" I asked and whipped my head to look at him.

"Just friends?" Teddy asked sarcastically, mimicking the tone I had used with him when he tried to ask about it before.

"What's it to you, Lupin?" I countered, feeling irrationally angry.

"It's nothing to me…how do your parents feel about you snogging a Slytherin?" He asked and I made a face. Trust him to bring up houses, who was he, Uncle Ron?

"One, we aren't snogging and two, if we were then they would be happy if I was happy. And three, it's none of your bloody business!" Why could he ALWAYS push my buttons and get me all riled up? God he is SUCH a pain in the arse.

"Relax Vic, no need to get your panties in a twist." Teddy threw up his hands in surrender. "Though your denial is definitely saying something more than your words…"

"Who is _your_ date again, Teddy?" I asked sweetly and his eyes became slits and the rest of the group laughed because he had yet to get one.

_END FLASHBACK_

I applied one last coat of lipstick before I turned to Shannon and Dominique and smiled. I had finally decided on a hairstyle: poker straight but with a lot of volume at the top. The best, however, was my silver heels. I knew I would be a bit taller than Reid in them, but I could care less. They were sexy, stylish and I was an expert at walking in them.

"All set?" I asked and they nodded and we eagerly but elegantly made out way down the stairs to the common room. Dom went to go find her date while Shannon and I walked up to where Julianne, Nathan and Lyle were standing.

"You girls look amazing!" Julianne squealed and we returned the compliment to her. "Well come on then, Teddy and Adam are off meeting their Ravenclaw dates. Vic, where's Reid meeting you?"

"Just outside the common room," I said and walked a bit ahead of them. I was still surprised Teddy managed to get a date at all, much less one that was supposed to be smart. I pushed the idea of him out of my mind though as I exited through the portrait and saw Reid waiting for me.

"Wow." He said. "You know you look amazing, right?" I grinned and motioned to his dress robes.

"You don't look too bad yourself. Ready?" I linked my arm through his and he mock-groaned.

"If you say so."

* * *

><p>The Great Hall was beautifully decorated and it was a nice change to see everyone in their ballgowns and not uniforms. Reid and I sat at the table with my friends (thank goodness because I really did not want to sit with his) and he was getting along with everyone really well. I hadn't seen much of Teddy and Adam , apparently their dates were making them sit with the other Ravenclaws. I did catch Adam's eye and one point and he made a face that looked like he was in agony. I had to stifle a giggle, Adam was so dramatic.<p>

Reid wasn't the best dancer, but the two of us had a lot of fun on the dance floor and the band they had playing was not half bad. As one song winded down, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye and stopped dancing.

"You okay?" Reid asked, confused. I motioned to over on the side of the hall where Madeline Cress was sitting alone at a table, looking wistfully at the dance floor. "Vic…"

"If you don't ask her to dance, I will consider it a serious fault in your character." I said pointedly. I was not backing down from this, there was no way I was going to let him pass up a chance to get a dance with the girl he was so hung up on! "Come on Reid, buck up some courage." I literally pushed him off the dance floor and he gave me a helpless look before walking to where Madeline sat. Feeling smug, I decided to walk over and get myself a glass of punch, knowing full well that the boys had spiked it. I reached the bowl and saw Teddy helping himself to a glass as well.

"Hey," he said softly as he saw me approaching. I suddenly felt a wave of shyness wash over me and wondered if it had something to do with the way he was looking at me. I nervously tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Hey yourself. Having a good time?" I asked and he shrugged non-committally. I assumed that meant no.

"Why is your date dancing with someone else?" He asked, motioning to the dance floor where Reid and Madeline were spinning around. I locked eyes with Reid and he sent me a grateful look

"Cause I told him to." I answered. Teddy shook his head and I sipped some of the punch. Oh yeah, you could definitely taste the alcohol in this. I noticed that Teddy was studying me and he shifted from one foot to the other. If I didn't know him any better, I would have thought he looked nervous.

"So…er…do you want to dance with me?" He asked and I realized I wasn't hallucinating, he was nervous about something. About asking me to dance, of all things. As surprised as I was, I found myself wanting to.

"Alright, but step on my toes and I'm sitting down and never speaking to you again." I set down my punch and took the hand that he extended, at once realizing that I had never held Teddy's hand before. It was much larger than mine, but still soft and he kept the perfect amount of pressure on it as he led me to a spot on the dance floor.

"Ready or not," he said with a grin and he put his hand on my lower back and I placed mine on his shoulder. Suddenly we were dancing. I was DANCING with Teddy Lupin, and to my utter shock he was a fantastic dancer.

"When on earth did you learn to dance?" I asked, nearly laughing as he spun me around.

"I grew up in my gran's house." He answered. "I can also tell the difference between a soup spoon, salad fork and butter knife." He boasted and I couldn't help but laugh.

"My, my Teddy, who knew you were so refined!" We both laughed as we danced more and when the song came to a close, I realized something quite amusing: "We just went an entire song without fighting," I raised my eyebrows as him. "Must be a new record."

"Absolutely." Teddy agreed and the band started a much slower song. The couples around us started to get closer to each other and I swore I saw the candles dimmed. "So…want to see if we can go for another?"

"Sure." I answered and he pulled me closer.

We suddenly lost the playful manner of the previous song and something was hanging in the air. I couldn't figure out what it was, nor if it was good or bad. My normal instinct to be annoyed and repulsed by Teddy was not only absent, it was replaced by…something else. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I wondered if he could feel it too, we were pressed so close to each other. His hand was on my lower back and it exerted the smallest of pressure on me, but I instinctively leaned closer to him resting my head on his shoulder. He smelled faintly of the alcohol in the punch and the scent of fresh soap. I closed my eyes and we swayed back and forth to the music.

I had never felt like this before. I was completely lost in the moment, I was thinking nothing yet everything at the same time. My mind was racing, but not nearly as fast as my heart. I wanted to stop, to think and to ask Teddy if he felt a fraction of what I was feeling at that very moment…but I couldn't bring myself to lift my head off of his shoulder, to leave this moment. As confused as I was in the moment, I could never remember feeling more content. The song ended and our dancing stopped, but neither of us made a move to let go.

Until-

"Teddy?" I opened my eyes and lifted my head off of his shoulder and looked at Teddy's face. He was looking at someone behind me and I let go of my arms around him and turned. I recognized the Ravenclaw seventh year that he had come with. She was looking at him with a curious expression. I looked back at Teddy, noticing his face had a trace of guilt on it. Why? We hadn't done anything wrong, we just…danced.

Or at least that was what I was trying to tell myself.

But one look at Teddy and I felt the butterflies, I felt the connection and I realized it was so, so much more than a dance. His eyes were this shade of golden brown and though I was sure I had seen the color somewhere, I was certain they never looked like this. We locked eyes for what felt like forever, though it could have only been a second.

"Thank you for the dance, Victoire." He said and I nodded, barely trusting myself to speak. I watched him walk away with his date, my eyes boring into the back of his dress robes. I had never felt this electricity with anyone before, much less Teddy Lupin. I couldn't stop thinking about our bodies pressed up together, the feel of his hand on my lower back, the scent that practically intoxicated me.

I had absolutely no idea what this feeling was…but I never wanted to stop feeling it.


	9. Glitch In The System

_I am so sorry this has taken so long! Between an extremely busy summer and rewriting this chapter four times, I had to wait until it was perfect..and now it is :) Promise the next one will be up much sooner. I LOVE your reviews, please keep them coming :) Also, next chapter will be in Teddy's point of view! Yay!_

**Glitch In The System**

The following week went by fairly smoothly, for Hogwarts standards. Classes were the same, my friends were the same and even the weather stayed a consistent April cool. The only thing that didn't stay the same was my body's reaction to whenever I was in the presence of Teddy Lupin.

First, I'd feel blush creep up the back of my neck, though thankfully (my Delacour genes fighting off my Weasley ones) it did not rise to my face. My heartbeat would start to pick up and I felt a swooping sensation in the pit of my stomach. Luckily, it seemed that no one else had noticed this glitch in my reaction system. If I didn't know myself, I would say I was developing a crush. However there was no possible way I was beginning to fancy _Teddy Lupin_.

He's so annoying. He never misses an opportunity to make fun of me. He doesn't have to carry the Weasley name but he gets included in everything. He calls me Vicky. He steals my bows.

Maybe my brain was having some sort of fit and my emotions and signals and feelings were getting all mixed up. That had to have been it.

"Good work Victoire!" Professor Longbottom mouthed as I successfully extracted the pus from the Mandrake. Though we had potted mandrakes in second year, we never got to actually raise them from start to finish, as we did this year. Feeling proud, I repotted the screaming (though I could not hear it) Mandrake into the pot and took it into the back closet, which was charmed to be soundproof. After packing up my supplies, I hung around the greenhouse for a bit, waiting for the other students to clear out so I could talk to Professor Longbottom alone.

"Professor Longbottom?" He raised an eyebrow at me. "I mean, Neville?" I asked again with a smile. He had always told me that when we were outside of Hogwarts or not around other students I was more than welcome to call him Neville. After all, I _was _at his wedding. "I was wondering…what is the school doing for Memorial Day this year?" I tried to ask the question casually, but I could tell he saw right though me.

"Never too much of a fun birthday for you, is it?" He asked sympathetically. I gave a light shrug: after sixteen years I had long gotten used to the fact that my birthday was not a happy day, it was not one to be joyful and to be celebrated. My family tried to put on happy faces but they always had so much hurt behind the looks, there was a tension in the room that hurt too much. And, as much as they apologized, Uncle George and Uncle Harry never could stay in the same room as everyone else on that day.

"It's alright, Dom says I get enough attention the rest of the year to make up for it." I said with a grin and Neville laughed. He motioned out of the greenhouse and we walked up to the castle.

"Well you certainly don't seem to have an enemy in this school. And quite a few boys admire you." He said with a wink and I giggled.

"As long as you don't tell my father." I said. "I think he's struggling enough with the fact that I'll be seventeen in a bit over a week's time, he doesn't need more on his plate."

"Seventeen," Neville said and he gave a low whistle. "I remember meeting you when you were only a baby. You were the first baby I ever held." I turned my head to him in surprise.

"Really? Not even Teddy?" I asked the question simply enough, but for some inexplicable reason my entire body felt flushed and my heart started to race the moment I said his name. What the hell was going on?

"Nah, I was far too scared the first time I met him and by the time I saw him again, he was a one year old. But you? You were a little peanut who, even at a couple months old, had nicer clothes than anyone I knew." We both laughed, knowing my mum was to blame for that one and enjoyed a nice conversation as we headed back to the castle.

* * *

><p>When a snowy owl dropped a letter in front of me at breakfast, I had to admit I was confused. I usually only got mail from my parents or grandparents, who was this from? I opened the letter and smiled, immediately recognizing the script.<p>

_Dear Victoire,_

_I hope your term is going well! James writes (barely) but he always mentions how much he enjoys having his cousins there to look out for him. I have a rather large favor to ask—Harry surprised me last night with a planned vacation to Greece! I am thrilled, but unfortunately it falls on the same week as your grandparents going to Romania to visit Charlie and I feel too bad sticking the kids with anyone else. I was wondering, since there are three of them and they are a bit of a handful, if you and Teddy could stay with them for the week and make sure the house doesn't blow up?_

_I realize that you and Teddy drive each other mad sometimes, but you are both responsible and the only ones of age so I'd really feel the most comfortable with the two of you. Please let me know and enjoy Hogsmeade this weekend! (And if James sneaks out and you catch him, feel free to hex him)._

_Love,_

_Aunt Ginny_

Teddy and I. Babysitting the Potter kids. For a week. Together.

I looked down the table and caught Teddy's eye, he was holding a similar piece of paper in his hand. He gave me that crooked smile that lit up his face and a shrug of the shoulder, as if saying "why the hell not." I returned the smile and tucked the letter in my pocket. The upcoming summer just got a little more interesting.

* * *

><p>The sun was shining on the April afternoon and I celebrated the warm weather by not even wearing a coat to Hogsmeade. I figured my pale blue sweater and jeans would be enough, plus my new bow that my mum sent me would match perfectly. Shannon had also decided against wearing a coat and we bounded down the dormitory stairs to meet up with the rest of the gang. I was excited to get a break from being in the castle, not to mention spending time with everyone. Everyone was waiting in the common room and Teddy leaned effortlessly against a wall. Our eyes made contact and we both smiled.<p>

"Hey," he said, ever so casually. And my heart, against everything my brain was telling it, started to flutter at the simple word.

"Hey yourself," I said, surprised my voice sounded calm and cool. Two things that I was not exactly feeling at the moment.

"Let's go!" Adam said excitedly and we all made our way out of the castle and walked down the grounds. Julianne and I linked arms and I looked around, again realizing that some of the younger kids stared. Adam always jokingly called us 'Hogwarts Elite', but I had the feeling it really was how we were viewed. I mentioned it to Lyle once as we studied by the fire and he laughed, saying it was me who was the elite, not the rest of them. Lyle really was the sweetest.

"Honeydukes first?" Nathan asked when we started to approach the village.

"I'll catch up with you guys," Teddy said and he stepped back from the group. Again our eyes made contact and he slightly tilted his head to the side, looking at me. "You want to come?" He asked and my heart started to beat wildly in my chest. I nodded and followed him, knowing exactly where we were headed.

The walk to the Shrieking Shack was quiet, but pleasant, though the wind was starting to pick up and blow my hair around, not to mention send a chill down my spine. When we got to the gate, we both leaned against it and looked. Teddy heaved a sigh.

"I don't think I'm like my dad at all." He said. I stayed quiet, knowing that Teddy needed to speak, not be spoken to. "From what my gran and Harry and everyone tells me…he was more quiet, he loved to read, he thought with his head much more than his heart. He was never the ringleader, never the first to cause trouble, always the reasonable one. My mum though…" Teddy smiled a little and his hair changed pink for the slightest of seconds. "She was impulsive, she was adamant about marrying my father, she was clumsy around the house but a wicked good Auror." He stopped for a minute and looked at the ground. "Come to think of it, maybe I'm not like either of them."

"You really think that?" I asked and he looked up, confused. "Because, it sounds like you're a blend. Your dad loved to read, you love to write stories for the Potters and make up imaginative games. Adam is always the first to cause trouble, you and Nathan just happen to always be close behind. Your mom was stubborn about your dad…" I gave him a smile and rolled my eyes. "And you are certainly stubborn whenever you and I have a row. You're more like them than you think." He gave me a crooked smile and I bit my bottom lip.

"You know...you may look just like your mum, but you've got a kind Weasley heart that has your grandmum written all over it." I returned the warm smile he gave me and we both stared back at the shack, but the mood was lifted. "Though, your shenanigans at Nathan's birthday might make both women shocked. I wonder where your party side comes from," he said cheekily and I resisted the urge to stick my tongue at him.

"Speaking of, I hear there will be another party on Friday night and you boys are stocking up today."

"Planning on giving Daniella more material to hassle me about?" Teddy asked, one eyebrow raised.

"Definitely not," I shook my head in disgust. "I'll be sticking with elf wine and watching the rest of you lot go wild." He chuckled and took a deep breath, looked to the sky and smiled and then turned to go down the path. Another gust of wind blew and I instantly felt like I had been hit with a freezing charm.

"For Merlin's sake," Teddy said when he saw me shiver and he pulled off his gray wool cardigan and handed it to me.

"You only have a rugby jumper on, I can't-"

"Put the cardigan on, Victoire." He said, and though the tone was annoyed, I felt a sudden warmness at hearing him say my name. I did as I was told, the material instantly warming me and the familiar clean scent surrounding me. "So, you, me and the Potter kids for a week, huh?"

"Apparently so," I smiled. "I haven't minded them in a while, I think the last time was when Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny had a ministry function to go to. James was nine, Al was eight and Lily was six. James and Al started to wrestle, knocked into Lily and her tooth popped out." It had been an insane night and I was more exhausted after a couple hours with them than I was doing anything else.

"I remember that," Teddy smiled. "I went over the next day for dinner and Lily showed me her space in her mouth and the sickles that the Tooth Fairy had brought her. Then she dropped one of the sickles into the treacle tart and James ate it and nearly choked. Lily freaked out that her sickle was gone and James told her all she had to do was wait til he pooed and she would have her money back."

"Which of course sent Lily into hysterics," I laughed and rolled my eyes. "Well it'll certainly be an interesting week. Just like when we were little and you and I would play house." Teddy groaned as we approached the main street of the village.

"You _always_ made me play that stupid game!" He said dramatically. "Why couldn't we have played exploding snap!"

"Because we were toddlers and house is a great game!" I defended. "It teaches life skills!"

"It teaches men they should stay bachelors." Teddy said matter of factly. "Charlie's got it made: no women, just dragons."

"So you think dragons are easier to deal with than a woman?" I asked and he turned his head.

"Easier than a Weasley woman." And then he winked and I felt that feeling inside, the feeling that had been recurring all day. The blush on my neck, the quickening of my heartbeat, the whooshing feeling in my stomach. And with that wink I knew, without a doubt, against everything I knew to be true, what that feeling meant.

It meant that I fancied Teddy Lupin. A lot.

Well…shit.


	10. Definitely Not Good

_I can't even begin to apologize for being so MIA this term! Senior year of college is a lot harder than I had hoped! Hopefully you guys like this chapter (though I know you'll hate it too!) and I promise to have the next update up as soon as I can! Thanks to everyone sticking with this story :) Love Kacey_

**TEDDY'S POV**

**Definitely Not Good**

It was Friday, which automatically meant it was a good day. Nathan and I had gotten out of Defense Against Dark Arts and were walking down the hall, debating if the party that would take place in a few hours was the fifteenth or sixteenth that we had thrown this year.

"No, in November we had the one where Lyle threw up on the chair _and_ the one post-Quidditch match." I told him and Nathan shook his head.

"I'm telling you mate, it was the same party."

"How would you know, you were snogging the brains out of Julianne _both _times." I pointed out and Nathan rolled his eyes. I chuckled and looked forward, seeing Victoire Weasley walk up the hall, animatedly talking to the boy standing next to her.

"Hi boys," she said brightly to Nathan and I. I grinned, lately I had been happy that the two of us were finally getting on well. It was almost as easy to be friends with her as it was to fight with her. "You remember Reid, right?" She motioned to the boy standing next to her.

"Of course I do," Nathan said. "Puddlemere's looking good, did you read about their match against the Tornados?" They got into a discussion about the match and I looked at Victoire, who was digging around in her bag. She pulled out a piece of parchment and with a smile and roll of her eyes, handed it over to me. I looked at it, recognizing the handwriting:

_Dear Victoire,_

_I am so happy you are staying with me this summer! I asked Mum if we could go to the stores in London and she said YES! Teddy can stay with James and Albus. Albus is too quiet. I miss you!_

_Love LILY POTTER_

I chuckled and handed the letter back to her.

"Looks like it'll be a week of girls against boys," She said with a slight smirk on her face. I didn't really remember ever seeing her smirk before, I'm sure I would have remembered how adorable she looked in that moment. See, that was the funny thing. Lately, I had been noticing more and more moments where Victoire looked absolutely adorable. Being friends (?) with her, I was starting to get why blokes went after her, what they noticed about her. I supposed it was about time I started noticing the good qualities in her too.

"You reckon the house will remain standing?" I asked.

"Please, you already know Uncle George and Uncle Ron have a bet on just how many days we will last." She said with another smile. Nathan and Reid's conversation began to die down and Reid turned to Victoire.

"Ready to go?" He asked and she nodded.

"See you boys tonight," She said with a wave of her hand and the two of them went off together. I felt a quick irritation at the sight of them going off to who knows where.

"You two seemed pretty chummy," I said to Nathan, a bit more sarcastic than I had intended. He raised his eyebrows at me.

"I could say the same about you and Miss Weasley. Reid is a nice bloke, we got to talk at the ball and I think he's pretty alright."

"For a Slytherin." I said under my breath, which Nathan unfortunately caught.

"You know, Ted, if I didn't know you any better I'd say you were turning _emerald green_ with jealously right now." He said slyly. I scoffed, the last thing I'd ever be would be jealous of a guy and Victoire Weasley. "It would work out if you did fancy her as well, since the two of you will be together for a whole week under one roof."

"Right, and then we could go back to the toddler days of playing house, except this time with actual lunatic children instead of dolls." I laughed and changed the subject, convinced that Nathan was losing it.

* * *

><p>The common room parties usually only took about a half hour to get in full swing. During that time, my friends and I, being the great hosts we are, had a tendency to take a couple shots to get the night going. The first couple burned, but around shot number four, the firewhiskey simply glided down your throat. Four was the number I was on when I saw Victoire come towards me. She wore a high wasted black leather shirt and a <em>very <em>tight red sleeveless shirt. I felt the new, yet familiar, annoyance as I watched other blokes stare at her as she made her way across the room, her blonde hair dancing behind her and her bright blue eyes dancing. I supposed it was just some protective instinct coming out…I mean we had practically grown up together.

"Hey Teddy," she said, her lips forming into a smile and my annoyance turned to excitement.

"Hey yourself. Firewhiskey?" I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she made a disgusted face at the bottle I was holding.

"Not anytime this century." She held up a bottle of elf wine. "I'll be sticking to the classics."

"Suit yourself," I shrugged and took another shot of the firewhiskey, enjoying both the taste of the liquid and the adorable face Victoire made as she watched me do it. It was the second time today I had thought she looked adorable. Hm. I pondered the word as Adam and Lyle said hello to Victoire. I had caught myself recently thinking words (like adorable) to describe her that differed from my usual vocabulary.

"Vic!" Shannon called her from a few feet away where she was standing with a group of sixth year boys.

"Wing-woman duty calls," she said with a wink and she turned and walked away. I felt the annoyance creep back up, but turned and took the shot Adam offered me before I could dwell on it further.

* * *

><p>Wing-woman my arse.<p>

It may have been the alcohol, but I was pretty sure that dancing with Christianson Ross and laughing and smiling at him was NOT helping Shannon hook up with some other idiot in the sixth year.

"You okay Ted? You're hair is the color of fire…" Nathan said from next to me. I scowled, changed my hair back to blue and took a swig from the bottle of firewhiskey, noticing it was almost empty. I knew Nathan had followed my gaze and was probably making some explanation for it in his head but I shrugged.

"_Fire_ hair for _fire_whiskey," I quipped and he chuckled. "Speaking of," I shook the near-empty bottle and scanned the common room for another, locating one on the other side of the dance floor. "Sod it," I muttered and made my way across the crowded space. I ran smack into someone and tried to steady her.

"If you wanted to dance , Lupin, you just had to ask!" The person stopped swaying and looked up at me. I recognized the Daniella girl who always gave Vic so much trouble. I was about to say a 'no thanks' when I out of the corner of my eye I saw that bloody git whisper something in Victories' ear and she rolled her eyes. But she kept on dancing with him.

"Why not," I said and I began to dance with Daniella. She was a very…suggestive dancer and I was wishing the song would speed up so I could make a quick exit. I glanced to my right and didn't see Victoire and that dumbass dancing anymore, but Shannon was twirling some guy around so I guess her mission has been accomplished.

My thoughts were distracted by Daniella pulling my face an inch away from hers and the room slightly spun.

"You're not a very attentive dancer," she said with a little pout.

"I don't like to dance," I shrugged, trying to be maintain some drunk-politeness.

"How about snogging?" She said and before I knew it, her lips were on mine. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was because I hadn't had a snog in Merlin knows how long, but for whatever reason I snogged her back. I didn't know how long it lasted, definitely into another song, but when we finally broke apart I saw a flash of blonde hair run out the portrait hole.

"Er, sorry, have to run," I said awkwardly and I stumbled my way off the dancefloor and out of the common room. Under normal circumstances there was no way I would leave a girl mid-snog so I could chase after Victoire Weasley of all people. But something was pulling me out of that room and to her, so I ran.

Or at least tried to run.

I'll admit I mostly stumbled my way to an empty classroom where I found her sitting on the professor's desk, staring out the window.

"Vic?" I asked tentatively. She slowly turned around and got down from the desk. She walked towards me, a very different walk from the happy one from earlier in the night. She stopped a foot away from me and took a deep breath.

"Why her? Of all of the girls, why her?" She asked and though the tone was simple, I felt the accusation under it.

"I don't know." I honestly answered. I really didn't.

"You don't know." She answered back, her voice hitching on the last word.

Shit. I knew that hitch in her voice. Her bottom lip was quivering and she was rapidly blinking her eyes. _Please, please, please don't cry_. I thought. I still technically didn't know why it upset her so much, but for some reason at this moment it didn't matter. And yet, probably (definitely) because I'm an idiot, I kept talking.

"How was I supposed to know you'd get so bent out of it, Vic?" I asked, slightly harsher than I probably (again, definitely) should have.

"Because!" She answered, her sad expression quickly being replaced by a furious one. Awesome job Teddy, upset the part-Weasley, part-Veela. Perfect.

"Well, _that's_ helpful." I said sarcastically.

"Because you knew she and I loathed each other. Because you and I were actually starting to get along. Because you danced with me at that _stupid_ ball!" She shouted, but the last part came out through tears. She hastily wiped them away.

"Please don't cry," I said, stepping forward.

"Just go, Teddy." She said quietly, looking down at the floor. It wasn't a request, yet it wasn't fully a demand.

"I'm not going to leave you here." I told her but she shook her head, bringing it up to look at me. The moonlight shone through the large window and I could see the tears falling down her face.

"Please, please just go." She asked again. I sighed and, not knowing what else to do, I turned around and walked out.

I did not go back to the Gryffindor common room, but instead took a walk around the corridors, wondering what in Merlin's name just happened. After running the scene through my head a few times, I still hadn't figured out why she was so mad. So I snogged Daniellla, so what? Did being friends (?) with Victoire mean that I couldn't snog people she didn't approve of? I knew for a fact she had snogged Topher Hale last year, stupid Ravenclaw git, and I didn't go off and cry about that.

Even though I couldn't figure out why she was mad, I was pretty sure it was safe to assume that walking away was probably (definitely) not the right thing to do.

_NEXT: Back to Vic's POV...and boy is she pissed!_


	11. Emotions All Over

_Thank you guys for your reviews and for sticking with this story! Your positivity is what inspired me to get this chapter out so quickly! Hoping to have another update for you guys before Christmas!_

_PS: I am going to see Daniel Radcliffe on Broadway tomorrow! EEEK!_

_(This is back to Victoire's POV)_

**Emotions All Over**

I opened my eyes on Monday morning, wondering if there was any chance Lady Luck would turn my terrible weekend into a fabulous week. I heard the high pitched giggle of Daniella as she and Dee gossiped about Merlin knows what and I quietly groaned. No, this week was going to suck.

Dominique had found me (well, Teddy had told her where I was hiding) on Friday and she pretty much solidified why she is the best sister on the planet. She held me while I cried, listened to me confess my feelings for Teddy and said just the right amount of mean things about Daniella. Saturday I woke up early and spent the entire day at Hagrid's. He didn't ask if anything was wrong (though I'm sure he could tell), we just talked about my dad when he was at Hogwarts and planned his Care of Magical Creatures lessons for the last month of school. Though his food was still borderline-edible, his tea was delicious. Saturday night was spent hanging out with Shannon and Dom in her dormitory. And Sunday, I spent with Reid in the greenhouses, preparing for the practical portion of our Herbology final exam.

I had to say, I was doing a fabulous job of avoiding Teddy Lupin.

I got out of bed and took my uniform out of the closet, trying my hardest to ignore Daniella, but I couldn't help overhearing. Especially because I know she was talking loud on purpose.

"Well _of course_ Teddy and I spent the weekend together, I mean you can't forget a snog like that one."

I clenched my jaw but kept my mouth shut and went into the bathroom, shutting the door behind me and taking two deep breaths. I mean, there was no way she and Teddy spent the weekend together, I would have known. _Or would I?_ A small voice said in the back of my mind. I had just been congratulating myself on a job well done by my careful avoidance of him…how did I know they hadn't spent the entire weekend together? I quickly splashed some water on my face. No. I had given myself two full days of moping and avoidance. I was a strong girl from an even stronger family.

It was time to start acting like Victoire Weasley again.

* * *

><p>I attended my classes cool and confident for the rest of the day and things were almost starting to feel normal again. I had left a book Charms class and was backtracking from the common room to get it when I rounded the corner and saw Teddy and Daniella talking at the end of the hallway. I stopped dead in my tracks. Neither of them noticed me, it would be so easy to just turn around and walk back to the common room. I was about to do just that when stupid, dumb, Teddy had to look up right at me.<p>

I wasn't sure how to interpret his look. It was a mix of surprise, anxiousness and a little bit of something else I couldn't quite place. My breath caught in my throat and I realized that I hadn't just been avoiding Teddy all weekend…I had been avoiding my feelings for him. Which, unfortunately, still bloody existed. I bit my bottom lip, feeling totally glued to the spot when I saw Daniella tug on his sleeve, kiss his cheek and leave.

I can only blame my next actions on being a part-Veela, part-Weasley and very, very imbalanced sixteen year old girl.

"YOU, Teddy Lupin, are a COMPLETE piece of DUNG!" I shouted as I practically ran towards him. A look of fear flashed over his face before confusion and defense sank in.

"Vic-"

"NO!" I said. "You and I were finally starting to get on and you pull THIS SHIT! You KNOW how much trouble she gives me, how much I loathe her! And when I ask you why, you tell me 'you don't know'" I did a very poor and probably offensive imitation of his voice. "You're such an arse!"

"What the HELL is wrong with you?" Teddy asked incredulously. "You don't see me throw a tantrum because you dance with some sixth year! Just because you don't like who I snogged, doesn't mean I can't do it!" I practically saw red at his statement, but he was getting riled up now and kept going. "Everything can't _always_ go your way, Weasley-"

"What's THAT supposed to mean?" I challenged.

"You're selfish! You expect us all to live in your little world and do whatever you want! It doesn't work that way. Just because you and I are friends or whatever doesn't mean I need to do what you want!"

"We're_ not_ friends!" I screamed wildly. "I've hated you a hell of a lot longer than I've tolerated you, Lupin and there is no reason we can't go back to that!" I turned around in a swift move of fury.

"Whatever you say, _princess_." He said, using my grandfather's (who really did give me whatever I wanted) nickname for me and lacing it with sarcasm. In one fluid motion, I spun back around, whipped out my wand and shot a curse at him.

But Teddy was ready. He blocked it and shot one back, which I effectively blocked (and sent it flying into a suit of armor, which crumpled to the ground). I was ready to send another back when I heard "_STOP IT_!"

I looked behind Teddy and he spun around. We faced Neville and my Aunt Hermione (what was she doing here?) and they both had expressions of shock and upset on their faces.

"What in the world is going on?" Neville asked the two of us. I felt the tears prick at my eyes, my irrational outburst seemed so childish and I had never felt so stupid. Teddy had to know I fancied him now.

"Sorry…argument…" Teddy trailed off, looking anywhere but at Neville and Hermione.

"Arguments are not solved with duels, you two." Neville said. He sounded so disappointed and I felt a tear run down my left cheek. "Detention on Friday in my office. 8 p.m. please." Teddy and I nodded solemnly.

"I'm really sorry," I choked out, knowing the tears were coming down in full force now. My emotions were all over the place and Aunt Hermione gave me a knowing look.

"Victoire, darling, why don't we take a walk," She said, putting her arm around me and leading me down a different corridor. She pulled me into an empty classroom, _that_ empty classroom, and shut the door.

"I'm such an idiot," I said, hastily wiping away my tears, but unable to prevent more from falling.

"Why's that honey?" Aunt Hermione put her arm around mine and softly ran her hand over my hair. "Did something happen with you and Teddy?"

"I-I kind of have started to f-fancy him," I said, the words coming out in breaths. "And he snogged Daniella and she and I_ loathe_ each other…I was such an idiot to think he may feel the same way." I was calming down but the words kept coming out of my mouth. "He snogged her in front of the whole common room. I don't care if he was drunk, even if he doesn't fancy me he knows I hate her. We've just been actually starting to get along and now…well now this just ruins it. And he followed me into this classroom when I got so upset and I just told him to leave and now I got in a row with him in the hall so he probably thinks I'm absolutely mental."

"Oh, Victoire, trust me: you are not mental at all." My Aunt Hermione said. "The situation you just described…well as awful as it is, boys tend to inherit that behavior from generation to generation. They are sometimes just utterly clueless."

"Was Uncle Ron clueless?" I asked meekly and I could see her holding back a laugh.

"Oh, he was the worst. Your poor Uncle Harry had to find me in this very same classroom, crying because Ron had snogged Lavender Brown in front of the common room after a Quidditch match, even after he said he'd be my date to Slughorn's Christmas Party." My mouth dropped open.

"So what did you do?"

"Sometimes you have to just wait." She said with a sad smile. "But, can I let you in on a secret?" I nodded and her smile turned into a knowing one. "The way Teddy looks at you, even when he's angry, is more passionate than couples who have been together for years look at each other. Maybe he has stronger feelings for you…and he just hasn't realized it yet."

"Do you really think so?" I asked, half disbelieving and half hopeful. She nodded and, even though I thought her prediction was a long shot, I did feel comforted. "Why are you at Hogwarts today anyway?"

"Neville had me come in and talk to the fifth years about careers in Magical Law." She explained. I nodded, I had remembered someone else from the department coming in last year to speak to us. "Though they were more interested in other aspects of my life, given the timing." I suppose she was referring to the fact that tomorrow was Memorial Day, May 2nd. It was also something else, but Aunt Hermione seemed to be lost in dark and distant memories and I chose not to bring it up.

"I'm sorry I had a meltdown," I said and Aunt Hermione smiled and gave me a hug.

"It's nothing to be sorry about." She said kindly. She walked me back to the common room and I gave her another hug before climbing through the portrait hole.

"Hey Vic," Lyle said, waving at me from one of the more comfortable chairs. I noticed his usual group of friends wasn't around so I sat next to him. "I feel like I haven't seen you in ages."

"It's been a hectic weekend," I said with a slight shrug. "How are you?"

"Alright, save for the ceremony tomorrow." He said sadly and I nodded. The Memorial Ceremony was always a somber one. Every year, someone came back who had fought in the war and talked about what that day was like. My family never really came, they usually went over the Burrow and had a depressing lunch and visited Uncle Fred's grave.

"I hear you on that one," I said sadly and rested my head back on the chair.

"Are you…okay?" He asked timidly and it dawned on me that my face was probably tear-stained and puffy.

"I will be." I said with a smile and Lyle nodded, accepting my answer and turning back to his book.

* * *

><p>I looked at the clock. 11:58. In two minutes I would turn seventeen, finally be of-age. And there was a very, very good chance that the only people who would wish me well were my relatives.<p>

11:59. What was that sound? It almost sounded like someone was rapping on the window closet to my bed. I quietly slipped out of my bed, pulling a dressing robe over my nightgown and walked over to the window.

My mouth fell open as I saw the source of the noise: Teddy Lupin, hovering on a broomstick, outside my window.


End file.
